Lightning Strikes In Crazy Town
by VicBelle
Summary: Coma or psychotic break, Ellie wasn't sure how she got to Storybrooke, but she came to realize that she was there to stay. Now she has to make a new life for herself, but with everything that happens in this magical town, it's going to be really hard to live that life without having to get involved; especially with her knowledge. Cannon pairings
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Once Upon a Time. ABC owns the rights to everything. No profit is being made from this story.

* * *

Elizabeth 'Ellie' Major wasn't anything special. She lived a secluded life, just the way she liked it. Not being comfortable around people, she loved being alone; just her, and her kitten, a tabby she named Thumper. He was all the company she needed. Not that she hated all people. Ellie loved her family dearly, but because of her history, they treated her like a child instead of the adult she need to become. She also had a few close friends, or more specifically two friends, Chantal, who had been her best friend since kindergarten, and Jamie, a girl she met at work fifteen months earlier, who pushed Elizabeth to live life in ways she hadn't known she was capable of, and quickly became her other best friend.

Ellie was a twenty-nine-year-old who had finally decided she wanted something more in life for herself than the afternoon job she had as a school janitor, so she decided she would go to college to become an office administrator. Being able to speak French, she decided to go to College Boreal because the classes were so small.

She knew she would have to be around people instead of working alone, but once she finished school and started her career, at least she could spend her nights at home reading or watching tv, instead of having to download everything and avoid Facebook until she watched the episodes she had missed while at work.

She didn't like school at all, mainly because it was full of people, but it was part of the course. 'It's practice for when I work with people,' she kept reminding herself. Her grades were almost perfect, but her anxiety often got the better of her while she did her assignments or tests. Today was no different.

Unfortunately, it wasn't a test or an assignment that caused Elizabeth's anxiety to flare up. It was a conference. The second years of her program had to organise a three-day conference for the entire program for all the campuses across the province, which totalled forty-three people. She worried she would loose her mind being around so many people, even the amount of people who were bound to want to get together after the days' activities were completed.

She had to share a hotel room with another girl from her program, Danielle, who was eleven years Elizabeth's junior, and fresh out of high school. Danielle wasn't bad for an eight-teen year old; she was mature enough, but there were times where she acted more like a child than a college student. If Elizabeth had to choose anyone in her class to room with, however, Danielle was the better choice compared to the six other first years at her college campus.

If she had a choice, Elizabeth would have backed out of the conference back when the program coordinator first announced it, but unfortunately, there would be a report to write on the conference once it was over, and it was worth thirty five percent of her final grade for one of her core program classes.

So, like the (somewhat) brave person Jamie had turned her into, Ellie stepped out of her car, grabbed her school bag and purse, and closed the door, leaving her suitcase in the backseat, and used her auto-lock to lock the car. She had two classes before the meet and greats started that would precede the three full days ahead of her, and she was hoping to get a lot of homework so she could do it while (she hoped) Danielle would leave her behind to mingle with the other conference participants.

On her way to the front doors of the school, she lit her cigarette, and took deep breaths to calm her nerves. 'I can do this,' she repeated silently to herself, while ignoring the other voices in her head that she should give up and go home to Thumper, amongst other things they were saying. 'Jay would kick my ass if I backed out. So would Tal, for that matter.'

Chantal, Tal to Ellie, hated the fact that her friend hadn't gone to college straight out of high school. She had wanted them to attend school together, even if it was a different program. Elizabeth didn't know what she wanted to do with her life at the time, and didn't want to spend the money to go to school when she didn't know what she wanted to be. It was something that always bothered Tal, but she loved her friend, and supported her anyways.

Ellie was having a hard time in her life back then. She had been lucky to finish high school without being admitted into a mental institution. She hadn't wanted to push her luck any further, and hid behind that excuse to avoid making decisions and truly living her life. It took Jay pushing her for Ellie to start living, and part of living her life was finally doing something with it, rather than watching it go by from the sidelines.

Ellie put out her smoke, and went to her classes for the day. It was boring. Her first class, a bookkeeping class, was only an hour that day, and they only corrected an assignment that had been due the Friday before, and a three-hour French class. Luckily, she had been assigned homework there, so she would have something to do after conference hours.

Finally, it was time to head to the school pub, where the meet and greet was being held, and students from different campuses were arriving. They would have dinner catered by the school's Chefs program, then they would head to the hotel, where they would do anything they wanted until the next morning, when the conference would officially start.

Going against her instincts, Ellie made her way to the pub, found a small empty table in a corner, and sat down, facing the growing crowd, and took out a book to read until dinner. She may be forced to physically be around people, but she couldn't be forced to interact with them.

The program coordinator, whom they called MC (short for Marie-Claude), eventually noticed her, and tried to convince her to join the crowd, but had no success.

"I get nervous around people until I get a feel for them. The last thing I need is to throw up on them before this even starts," Ellie told her teacher.

"You won't get a feel for them hiding in a corner, you know."

"Maybe, but I'm trying to be as comfortable as possible right now. I'll talk to them when it's time for dinner. I can't hide around a bunch of round tables, now can I?"

"I know you have a hard time with people, but try with one person. Consider it part of your grade," MC joked, knowing she couldn't grade Ellie differently from the others.

Ellie, knowing what her teacher was trying to do, smiled. "It's not on the assignment page, nice try. You'll know for future students though."

MC knew she wouldn't get Ellie socializing until she had no other choice, so she decided to go to Danielle, and asked if she could try to help. Danielle, who was the closest person to what Ellie would call a friend from the program, agreed, and went up to her older classmate.

"You looked like you need a smoke. When was the last time you had one?" she asked.

Ellie glanced at her phone, checking the time. "Over two hours ago. Does this mean you want to come to?" She knew Danielle didn't smoke, but her parents did, so she didn't care if she was around smokers as much as others in the class.

When Danielle nodded, she put down her book, and grabbed her coat. It was the last week of October in Northern Ontario, and while they were lucky they hadn't had snow yet, it was still cold. They couldn't go outside without one, no matter how used to the cold they got being here.

Once outside and the smoke lit, Danielle asked what she wanted to do that night once they got to the hotel.

"Stay in, maybe watch some tv. I have shows on my laptop I can watch, and I have headphones, so I wont bother you if you want to do anything."

"I forgot shampoo. We can go to Wal-Mart and get some if you want. I know you're taking your car. Do you mind? We can get snacks too, for later. Or for tomorrow night. You can still go out with us to the movies and shopping if you want."

"Nah, I'm good, thanks. We can hit Wal-Mart, but I want to take it easy. Full day for the next few days. I wanna be well rested."

"You sure? You can always come, if you change your mind."

"I'm sure, thanks."

That's how Ellie was with everyone, always making excuses avoid socializing. Had Jamie been there, she'd call Ellie out on it, and make her go anyways. They were opposites, and that's why Ellie supposed they hit it off so well. Unfortunately, because of school and Jay's work schedule, they hadn't hung out in a while, so Ellie was starting to resort back to her old ways.

Eventually, the girls headed back inside, and soon enough, too soon for Ellie's liking, dinner time came around, and she was forced to talk to others. Thankfully, she was sitting with another girl from her class, Alexie, so at least she wasn't completely alone, but it didn't help calm her nerves. Ellie barely ate, even if she was hungry, because her stomach was so upset, and after an excruciating hour, dinner was over and the final instructions from MC were given to the students.

Finally, they could leave. Ellie picked up her things, and went to her car to go to the hotel. If she hadn't been so overwhelmed, she would have offered a ride to Danielle instead of her taking the bus with the out of town students, but she knew the ten-minute drive to the hotel was her last chance to be alone for twenty-four hours, and she wanted to take advantage of it.

Ellie focused on the road, but didn't notice the storm clouds forming overhead. The clouds were stranger than normal cloud, however: they were purple! They were quickly going in circles, faster and faster, not as if to form a tornado, but something else... Lightning came from in the clouds, lighting up the sky, and drew Ellie's attention, but before she could react, a lightning bolt hit her car. She felt pain everywhere.

'So much for rubber tires...' were her last thoughts before she backed out completely.

* * *

When Ellie woke up, she didn't feel pain, only confusion. She didn't know how she had gone from an established neighbourhood, surrounded by homes and streetlights, to a street surrounded by trees, but no orange, red and yellow leaves were on them, only green. It was also daylight out, and it only brought on more confusion. It had been dark when she left school, and she wondered how long she had been unconscious, and who would have taken her car to where she was, without moving her from the driver's seat. Not to mention, she hadn't crashed. She had passed out while driving, she should have crashed into something.

She unbuckled her seatbelt, and got out of the car to inspect the damage she couldn't see over the dash. Strange thing was, she found nothing! Her car was in the same condition it had been. 'How is that possible?' she asked herself.

'Get in the car and find out,' a voice in her head said.

"Shit!" escaped her lips, as she rushed back inside her car, and she rummaged through her purse for her medication. She had to have been unconscious longer than she thought, because she was late for her pills. She had to take them at the same time, every day, for the voices to remain at bay.

She quickly took her meds, closed her eyes, and leaned against the head rest, taking three deep breaths, opened her eyes, and lit a smoke, before looking for her phone to call for help. She dialed Jay's number, and pressed her cell against her ear.

"We're sorry. The number dialed is not in service. Please hang up, and try your call again," said an automated voice.

Ellie hung up, and tried Danielle, who's number she had saved in her phone because of a group project they had been paired to do for their Interpersonal Communications class. If she could get a hold of her classmate, at least MC wouldn't have to worry about where she was. Again, the automated voice came on the line.

She hung up again, and tried calling Tal. "We're sorry. The number dialed is not in service. Please hang up, and try your call again."

Now Ellie knew something was wrong. She had been there four days ago when Tal paid her bill. There was no way that number had been disconnected!

Ellie had no choice but to start her car, and drive. She hoped to find a place she could call from her land line, and figure out a way to get home. She had only been driving for three minutes before she reached a small town, and found the first public place she came across. She parked the car, and went inside a dinner, named Granny's.

Everyone stopped and looked at her, as if they had never had an outsider come in before. She went to the counter, where an old woman with glasses and grey hair, stood on the other side of the counter. She looked familiar to Ellie, but could place her. She approached Ellie slowly.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Would I be able to use your phone? I'm lost, and mine isn't working properly."

The old woman handed Ellie a cordless phone, where she dialed Tal's number again. Unfortunately for Ellie, she got the same automated message as before. "We're sorry. The number dialed is not in service. Please hang up, and try your call again."

Ellie hung up slowly, and looked at the old woman. "Well that was a bust. Can you tell me where I am?"

"Storybrooke," she replied.

Ellie knew she heard the name before, but she couldn't remember where at that moment."Storybrooke? Where's that?"

"Maine."

Ellie paled, and her jaw dropped. 'MAINE! How can I be in Maine? How can I be in the States? What the hell?! I don't even own a passport! How did get across the border?'

She closed her mouth and shook her head. "I'm sorry, did you say Maine?"

"That's right. You're in Storybrooke, Maine."

"Oh... Um... Thanks for your help," she stuttered, got up from the stool, and left. She didn't fully register every face in the dinner follow her out the door. She got back in her car, closed her eyes again, leaned back against the headrest, and proceeded to take three deep breaths again. Her panic wasn't going away this time. She took more deep breaths, but it didn't work. She took out another smoke and lit it, but even that didn't work.

How on earth had she made it to Maine? She didn't have a passport, so she knew she hadn't come legally, or on her own, so who had brought her here? Why did they leave her out, practically in the woods, in her car, without any harm coming to her? Not to mention, how had all the phone numbers she knew not worked when she called them? Nothing made sense...

Ellie knew there was only one way for her to get home: to go to the cops, and pray they believed her. She hadn't been big on praying over the last fifteen years or so, and the fact that she was willing to do it now, showed her just how desperate she felt to get home. She just hoped she wouldn't be thrown into Guantanamo Bay for being snuck into the country illegally.

She figured she would be considered more cooperative if she brought her vehicle and let them search it, not to mention they could find evidence of whoever did this to her, so she drove around the town's main street, and eventually found the police station. She went inside, and saw a blond woman in a red leather jacket sitting at a desk looking over files. Ellie cleared her throat.

"Um... excuse me. My name is Elizabeth Major. I'm in trouble and I need help to get home."

The woman turned to face her, but Ellie couldn't believe what she was seeing. 'Jennifer Morrison? Huh?'

The Jennifer Morrison look-alike got up from her desk, her sheriff's badge on her belt catching the light coming in through the window, and walked towards her. "Hey. I haven't seen you around before. Where are you from?"

"Well, you see, that's the part where I'm in trouble. I woke up on the road outside of town, no idea how I got there, and discovered I was here... " She paused and took a deep breath. "But I was in Ontario last I remember. I don't own a passport, so I know I got here illegally. But I don't know how, and I don't know who, or why."

Ellie was shaking in her skin, terrified of what the sheriff would do to her. The woman spent a few moments looking at one another. Ellie barely able to keep her gaze on her, she was so scared of whether she was going to be thrown in jail or thrown into a hospital and forced to stay there for the rest of her days for insanity.

Finally, the sheriff spoke. "I believe you. Now let's find out who did this and how to get you home."

Ellie felt tears come to her eyes. "Really? You believe me?"

The blond smiled. "I have this super power, and it tells me when someone's lying to me. You weren't, so I believe you."

Ellie let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding, but refused to let the tears fall. She was getting home, and she wasn't going to an institution or jail. She had never been more relieved in her life.

"Thank you. I know what I must sound like, coming in here saying I'm from Canada and I don't know how I got here without a passport. It sounds crazy. I swear I didn't know I was even out of Sudbury until someone at the dinner told me."

"We'll get you out of here before you know it. I'm Emma Swan," she said, holding out her hand.

Ellie couldn't control it anymore. Between her fear of getting locked up, her confusion over the whole circumstance, and now Jennifer Morrison saying her name was Emma Swan, exactly like a new (to her) show she was watching on Netflix called Once Upon a Time. She burst out laughing, and it turned into anger.

"Emma Swan? The Jennifer Morrison look-alike is a sheriff named Emma Swan. This is way more insane than what even I could come up with. I may be crazy, but I'm not stupid. What is this, part of some game? I know this is the real world. Once Upon a Time doesn't exist; it's a tv show. Even I know the difference between fiction and reality. Nice try. You did this to me, didn't you?" Then she remembered the old woman. "You're all a part of it. That's why that woman said I was in Storybrooke. You're all in this together! Real funny, kidnapping a crazy chick from off the street, pretending this is some make believe town, in another country. Why?"

Jennifer Morrison/Emma Swan looked at her in confusion, backing away a little. "Woah, calm down. I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't know where this is coming from, but I promise you, this isn't a game, and I don't have any part of what's happened to you."

"Bull shit! I'm not staying here where you can turn me into some nut job!" Ellie turned and ran out the building, into her car, and took off as fast as she could, going in the direction she had come from to get into town.

She looked behind her to see if the "sheriff" was following her. Nothing was behind her except for trees and road. She sighed in relief, and turned to face forward, and slammed on the breaks, hard. There was a brunette woman standing in the middle of the road. She wanted to escape whatever was going on back in that town, but she didn't want to kill anyone along the way.

The brunette didn't move other than to raise her hand in a stop position, and Ellie realized she hadn't applied the breaks on time, so she had to swerve to avoid hitting the woman completely. She lost control of her car, and fell off the road, into the ditch. She hit her head hard on the steering wheel, and blanked out.

* * *

First time ever writing a story. Hope you're enjoying it so far. Give me constructive criticism, but don't be hateful about it. Still working out the kinks to this whole writing thing. See y'all next time!

Vic


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Once Upon a Time. ABC owns the rights to everything. No profit is being made from this story.

* * *

Before she had even opened her eyes, Ellie knew she was somewhere bright. She could feel her eyes being protected from it, even if her eyelids were closed. She listened to the sounds around her. A consistent beeping came from her left, and at a distance, she heard muffled voices, but was unable to make out the words.

Her head hurt, along with some body pain, but other than that, she felt fine. She fought back a groan of pain, and wondered what had happened to her before she woke up. She wondered if she wanted to open her eyes or go back to sleep, but she figured she would need to get up soon to go to her conference.

Then it came flooding back. The lightning, the dinner, the sheriff's office and the woman on the road. 'Car accident. I'm in a hospital!' she thought. She opened her eyes, and immediately closed them again, regretting it. It was too bright all at once for her eyes to truly see where she was, and it made her headache worse. She tried to bring her hand up to shield them so she could adjust, but something around her wrist prevented her from doing so. She tried her other hand, and got the same result.

Slowly this time, she opened her eyes and looked down. She focused on the silver straps around her wrists. 'No straps, handcuffs', she thought. 'I'm in handcuffs. Shit I'm in major trouble.'

She decided to look around instead, since she couldn't go anywhere, and noticed the heart monitor, an empty chair close to the bed, and the door closed. No one was in her room, but she could see shadows of people walking past through the blinds of the windows beside the door.

'How am I going to get out of here? These people are crazy!' Never had she thought she'd see the day where people were crazier than her, but she had, and the realization didn't put her at ease one bit.

The door opened, "Emma Swan" walked in, along with three others people trying to be "David Nolan", "Mary Margaret Blanchard" and "Regina Mills". The lather looked ready to snap, but why, Ellie didn't know.

"You're awake. Good," said "Mary Margaret". "How are you feeling?"

"Let me go," said Ellie. "You can't keep me here. It's illegal!"

"Please, calm down. You've been in an accident, and you have quite the bump on the head. Do you want some water?" asked "Mary Margaret".

"Let me go. I'm not going to fall for your games. You guys are seriously disturbed disguising a whole town of people to be characters from a tv show. And trust me, I've seen disturbed. You guys take it to a whole other level!"

"What do you mean, a tv show?" asked "Regina" stiffly.

"Once Upon a Time, airs on ABC on Sundays. The Evil Queen casts a dark curse taking people from the Enchanted Forest to a land with no magic, creating Storybrooke, where only the Savior, Snow White and Prince Charming's daughter, can bring back the happy endings. No? Nothing? Even I heard about it before I started watching it. You're all crazy!"

"How do you know that? Are you from the Enchanted Forest? Were you cursed here too?" asked "Mary Margaret".

"No! Seriously people. It's a tv show. Not real. Get a grip on reality!"

"I can assure you we are real. Where do you come from for our lives to be a show?"

"Reality! You know, where sane people are! I may not be fully sane, but I can still tell the difference between a show and real life."

"I hate to break it to you, but this is real life. This isn't something we've made up," "Emma" tried to convince her.

Ellie took a deep breath. 'Ok, these people think it's real, and they are the characters. There's no way so many people in one place could lose such a grip on reality.' There had to be another explanation. She got hit by lightning, and she had felt the electrical current flowing through her body... Maybe she was in a coma! A seriously screwed up coma, but the brain can do the strangest things. Maybe this was one of them. But why Once Upon a Time? It's not like she had been obsessed with the show. She liked it, and she was plowing through the episodes on Netflix, but she was more obsessed with Doctor Who than Once Upon a Time. Ellie was so confused. If she was in a coma, however, she may as well play along... For now.

"Ok, say you are telling the truth. How did I get here? How did I go from watching the show to being in it?"

"We don't know. We were hoping you could tell us what's the last thing you remember before waking up here," "David" finally spoke.

"I was driving from school to a hotel for a conference, and my car got struck by lightning. I woke up here."

The "Charmings" looked to "Regina", who rolled her eyes, exasperated. "I'll look in my spell books to see if there's anything that could shed some light on this. Was there a cloud? A doorway? Anything that can help me narrow down what type of portal you came through."

"Um... I didn't notice. I was driving. I didn't even notice the lightning until it was striking my car."

"Well, that's helpful," she said sarcastically. "I'll what I can come up with." With that, she turned and left the room, leaving only Ellie and the "Charmings".

"Now what? Am I stuck, handcuffed to this bed, until she can figure this out?"

"Dr Whale will come make sure there's no lasting damage. Then you're coming home with us," said "Mary Margaret".

"I'd rather get a hotel room. I don't do well with strangers."

"Nonsense! We wouldn't dream of it! You're our guest. We can't leave you to be alone in a hotel, no matter how beautiful the rooms are."

"No no, it's ok. I insist. I'll get a room, and I won't be in your way." Ellie tried to keep her panic at bay. She didn't know how a coma felt like, but she imagined that she wouldn't feel her anxiety as bad as this. She didn't like living with people, especially strangers. This was felling a little too real for Ellie's liking.

"Emma spoke up. "If you don't come with us where we can figure this out, you can always stay here," she threatened.

Ellie bit her lower lip. She hated hospitals just as much as people. 'Wonderful, just wonderful. Which is the lesser of the two evils? I think I'd rather be unconscious again than have to make this decision.'

A knock came at the door, and a man, whom she remembered to be Dr Frankenstein in the show, came in.

"So how's our patient doing?" he asked as he began checking her vitals.

"I want to go home."

"You'll be out soon enough." He took out a little light pen. "Look straight ahead," he said as he flashed it near her eyes.

"Your EEG shows no signs of damage, but your LZC levels are more elevated than normal. Do you know what LZCs are?"

" Lempel–Ziv complexity. I've had EEG's before. They've always been higher. And I know why they are, and those reasons are for my ears only. As a patient, I refuse for you to talk about anything medical in front of anyone that isn't myself. AKA, don't tell these people, or I'll sue you for breach of doctor/patient confidentiality. I don't care if you're from a magical land or not!" Ellie threatened. She didn't want complete strangers to know about her condition.

"Frankenstein" looked a little alarmed, but shook it off quickly. "Okay, I'm just letting you know what we found. Do you want them to leave so we can keep talking?"

"Am I cleared to be released or not?"

"I don't see why you need to stay here. As far as I'm concerned, you're free to go. Just take it easy for the next few days, and you'll be just fine." He gave her a tight smile, and walked out of the room.

"Can you uncuff me so I can get out of here?" she asked, looking towards "Emma".

"What's your choice kid, come with us or stay here?"

"I'm in the US aren't I? It's a free country. I can go where I want. Unless you're arresting me, you can't force me to go anywhere."

"Do you want to be arrested? You are in this country illegally."

"Then arrest me. Otherwise, uncuff me and let me go to that stupid hotel. I'll stay in town until I can get home, but I refuse to stay where I'm not comfortable." Ellie didn't stand up for herself often, but when she did, it was because she felt trapped with no means of escaping and her panic was on the verge of getting the better of her. 'I need a smoke more than ever."

"At least come for dinner then," "Mary Margaret cut in before an argument can break out between her daughter and the girl in the bed. "I'm making a roast, and there's more than enough for everyone."

Seeing that "Mary Margaret" was not going to take no for an answer this time, she nodded her head while "Emma" uncuffed her from the bed. Ellie ran to the bathroom with her clothes to change out of the hospital gown and take her medication. She immerged to find the room empty. She threw the gown on the bed, put on her shoes that were placed neatly by the door, and left to sign the papers she knew had to be signed for her release. The nurses gave her directions to the hotel, and she quickly made her way there, smoking along the way. It was more of a bed and breakfast than a hotel, and run by the same woman who she spoke to at the dinner. She was given a room, room 6 to be exact, and Ellie quickly made her way to her new humble abode for however long her brain was going to keep her there.

The decor was terrible for Ellie's taste, but she'd rather it than be at "Mary Margaret's" for too long. All she wanted to do was hop in the bed and sleep, but she knew she had to keep up appearances of having her shit together, so she took a quick shower before changing into her lounging clothes, and laid down on the bed. She didn't have much with her, only enough clothes for the three days of conferences and three nights of lounging in a hotel room, so she's would have a choice between finding a laundry mat, or sucking it up and shop for more clothes. Either way, as a student, Ellie didn't have much money, so she'd have to get laundry detergent and got to the laundry mat.

The whole situation didn't feel right to her, but Ellie truly couldn't figure out how a whole town can have such strong delusions about being fictional characters. The coma scenario was more and more likely, but it all felt too real for Ellie to be completely convinced it was. Then again, if she was a suffering from another psychotic break, she wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Last time she's had one, she had been stuck in her head for twelve days, but it felt like twelve years. And the only way she managed to get herself out was to play along with what her mind was forcing her to live through.

If that were the case, Ellie would be forced to play this out till her mind came out of it. Coma or psychotic break? Either way, her brain was controlling everything she was seeing and experiencing, so she may as well live it as if it were real until she got back to reality. She'd have a hard time when she found herself again, but she had to keep herself sane now, and worry about that when it happened.

She thought about what she remembered in the show. It had to be past season two, because they didn't look surprised at the thought of an evil queen casting a spell on them. Regina was also not friendly with the Charmings, she looked like she barely tolerated them in fact, and Ellie was sure that by season three, after Neverland of course, the characters had all started to become friends.

She should have stayed at the hospital to see if Greg was a patient there, then she'd know approximately where they'd be in the season. Guess she'd have to ask what they've done so far when she was there for dinner. 'Dinner! Crap! Why the hell did I agree to dinner!'

She got up and dried her red hair, putting it in a ponytail at the base of her neck, before brushing her teeth. As she did, she took in her appearance in the mirror. Her blue eyes were dull, unable to truly shine for a long time. People didn't notice, however. They had a hard time seeing her eyes because her bangs mostly swooped to the left, were mostly covering them. Her skin was pale, not being one to go outside very often, and some places still showed her scars from trying to hurt herself after her last break from reality.

It was rare for woman to develop schizophrenia in their teens. Most woman developed it in their late twenties or thirties. It was mostly men who developed it at the age she had. It made her a gem to the psychiatrists' eyes. She was the patient everyone wanted. Not because they wanted to help her, of course, but because they wanted to be the one who had a female teenager as a schizophrenia patient. It would look good on their resumes and portfolios.

There was only one doctor, that she could recall, who genuinely wanted to help her. He didn't last long, unfortunately, because other, more experienced doctors, swooped in and took her as a patient, claiming more experience. Normally doctors didn't choose their patients, she knew, and wished she had been treated like everyone else.

Ellie had gotten so lost in thought again, that she didn't realise she had been brushing her teeth for over ten minutes until she started chocking on her toothbrush when she had accidently shoved it too far down her throat. She rinsed her mouth, and put everything away, before returning to look at her appearance.

She didn't feel like having her hair tied up, so she took it down, letting her wavy red hair flow past her shoulders, and fall just below her collarbone. Ellie still wasn't happy, so she shook her head back and forth, hoping for a messy look, and didn't get that either. In the end, she gave up, sighed, and returned her hair to the ponytail, before grabbing her purse and room key, went downstairs to ask Granny for directions, and made her way to Mary Margaret's for dinner.

She knew she was putting on a show for these people. To make them think she was normal when she was the furthest thing from it. She wished she was going out to dinner with Tal and Jay. She wished her friends were here. She wished she could talk to them. But her mind was cruel. She had to go through this coma or psychotic break without their support.

Eventually, which wasn't long at all despite it feeling like hours to Ellie, she arrived at the apartment building she had been directed to find. Not wanting to go inside yet, despite being late, she lit a smoke and relaxed the best she could. Good thing she had stopped at the reserve to get two cartons of her smokes on her way to school. She was set in that department for a little bit. She would have to find somewhere that sold them before she ran out. Do they even have cigarettes in Storybrooke? They've never shown anyone smoking on the show. She wasn't even sure if Cruella smoked like she had in the Disney movie. Either way, she just hoped she could get more while here. Then again, if she was locked in her mind, her supply of smokes wouldn't really run out, would it?

She was about to light a second smoke when Mary-Margaret knocked at her passenger-side window. Sighing, she closer her driver-side window, grabbed her stuff, and got out of the car.

"We were wondering if you were ever coming up," she said, as they walked to her apartment.

"Sorry. Just needed to gather up some courage."

"You really don't like people, don't you?" she asked, smiling.

"It's not that I don't LIKE people; it's more like people make me nervous, and uncomfortable. I prefer being alone."

"It must get lonely, being alone all the time."

"No, not really. I have my two best friends, and my cat."

"No family?"

"I only talk to my family if I have to. I love them dearly, but I can't be around them very much."

"Why?"

"We had a falling out when I was a teenager," she tried to make things sound better than they really were. Despite everything that went on, she didn't want anyone thinking ill of her family. "We haven't really talked since then."

"Must be some falling out."

"It wasn't as bad as you think," she lied. "I'm just too stubborn to talk to them."

"Even if you miss them?"

"Even then. They want what's best for me, but it's what they think is best, not what's actually best. I tried it their way, and it only made things worse. They didn't seem to think so."

"What happened?"

"Why do you care?"

"Because you look lonely, like you need someone to talk to."

"I have my best friends for that."

"You look like you need someone now, and they don't seem to be here."

"They wouldn't be, even if they should be, considering..."

"Considering what?"

"I've come to the conclusion that I'm either dreaming while in a coma, or I've officially lost it and I'm having a psychotic break from reality. Either way, my mind is in control, so I really don't understand why neither of them aren't here."

Mary-Margaret sighed. "This isn't a coma or a break from reality. We've been here longer than you have. We had lives and memories and everything before you came, so it's not just something you've made up."

"It has to be. It's the only logical explanation. I mean, come on! How could I get stuck in a tv show? Magic? Like that ever happens."

"There's magic in the strangest places, you know," she said smiling. "You just have to look around you. The birds singing, the trees growing, giving us oxygen. Nature, friendship, love. It's all magical. Maybe not the type of magic you're thinking of, but it's still magic."

"Uh, don't tell me you're one of those people."

"One of what people?"

"You know, those tree hugging people who think all nature is magic, 'Colours of the Wind', all that stuff."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but it sounds wonderful."

Ellie rolled her eyes. "Of great, you are one of them." It was then she noticed they were standing outside a door. "How long have we been standing here?"

Mary-Margaret laughed. "A few minutes."

"Why didn't you open the door then?"

"Because you were talking about things. Seems you are more comfortable talking one on one then in a group. Less defensive. I didn't want to end the moment and have you resort to your guarded self, like you were in the hospital."

"If you knew I was uncomfortable in groups, why did you invite me to a family dinner?"

"Because you need food, and we wanted to welcome you to Storybrooke."

"Not to get information on what I know about you?"

"It crossed my mind afterwards, but when I invited you, there was no other reason than to welcome you. You are the first visitor to ever come to Storybrooke. It's just strange, that's all."

'So that's where they are in the show. They haven't gone to Manhattan yet. No Neil.' Instead of voicing her thoughts, Ellie spoke. "Inviting a strange woman who claims you're fictional characters over for dinner isn't exactly the sanest thing to do. Especially since I'm someone who could very well put all of you in danger by going to the cops in other towns, claiming there's magic here. I could put the town in danger. You shouldn't trust outsiders from this world."

"You wouldn't be the first person to claim we're all fictional characters, and that person was right. So maybe you're right too. Besides, Emma believed you when you said you weren't from around here. Add that to the fact that you know about magic, and you don't seem like a threat at all."

"Don't trust outsiders. They'll only cause trouble."

Mary-Margaret looked at her, before shaking her head. "No, I don't think you will."

"Maybe I won't, but someone could come into town who doesn't know about all this, and it can cause so much more trouble than you know. Don't be so trusting."

"Everyone deserves a chance."

"Not if it causes the whole town to be in danger."

"See, I'm right about you. You're not going to hurt us. In your own way, you're looking out for us. Now, enough waiting, dinner's getting cold. Are you ready to go inside?"

Ellie sighed. She didn't want to drop the conversation, thinking about Greg/Owen and Tamara, but she could see that Mary-Margaret wasn't going to believe her, so she gave in. "No, but we'll have to go in sooner or later, so why not face the music now and get this over with."

With that, they went inside, where Emma, David and Henry were waiting for them.

"Finally! I'm starving Grandma. Can we eat now?"

Mary-Margaret laughed. "Patience Henry, we're all eating together. Now, lets all sit and dig in."

Henry rushed to the table, and began serving himself as if he hadn't eaten in a week.

"You have no idea how hard it's been to keep that kid out of the food. Thought I was going to have to tie him up," Emma joked.

"Sorry I made you all wait. You could have started without me," said Ellie.

"Never!" gasped Mary-Margaret. "You're our guest of honour! We would have waited as long as we needed to."

They ate for a little bit, before Henry spoke up again. "What do you want for your birthday, Grandma?"

"I already have everything I want: my family. I just realized this is the first family meal we've had since the curse was broken. It's been long overdue. I'm just happy we're finally together, all of us." Then Mary-Margaret turned to Ellie. "We just returned from the Enchanted Forest yesterday. This is long overdue."

"How do you know about Storybrooke?" asked Henry.

"It's a town in a tv show I started watching not too long ago. It's about a boy who finds his biological mother and brings her back to town so she can break the Evil Queen's curse and bring back everyone's happy ending. At least, that's how it started. It's a little more than that now."

"Really, like what?" Henry's eyes lit up.

Not sure what to do, Ellie decided to be vague. "Well, they broke the curse, but there's always something some evil or another who tries to ruin the happy endings."

Henry looked down. "So the Evil Queen just keeps hurting people? I thought she wanted to change."

"No! Your mom isn't the only evil in the world. You should have faith in her more. She loves you, and she'd do anything to regain the relationship you two had when you were younger."

"She has a funny way of showing it."

"There are lots of factors for Regina being the way she is. She's just gotten lost in her anger and pain, she's forgotten herself. She wasn't always like this. She just needs someone to remind her that she's more than what she's become."

"She chose the wrong path."

"The world isn't black and white, kid. It's filled with shades of grey. I'm not excusing Regina's actions. Ultimately, she made her choices, and she needs to own those choices because she made them, but there are other influences in her life that showed her those choices to begin with. Believe it or not, Regina isn't entirely to blame for the curse being cast. Someone taught her how to cast it."

Ellie sighed, before continuing. "People make mistakes, and this is the turning point for your mom. She can make the choice to be a better person, or choose to stay in a world of anger. Ultimately, she needs to make that decision for herself, but she also needs a reason for changing. Can you be her reason for changing? Change is hard, sometimes people need goals to achieve those changes. Because Regina's path to change won't be easy. She needs to see the light at the end of the tunnel."

"You know something."

"I know a lot of things. You're gonna have to be more specific, kid."

"Does she change?"

"If I told you, then you'd just expect all her actions to lead to that change. She may choose to change, and fall off the wagon a few times, or she may choose to stay how she is, and do good deeds from time to time."

"But if she stays evil, what's the point?"

"Have faith, kid. She may be the Evil Queen, but she still loves you. She held you when you were hurt, she tucked you into bed, protected you from your nightmares, helped you with your homework, taught you how to ride a bike, to walk, to talk. Those aren't evil acts, kid. Those are acts of a mother's love for her child. She may not have given birth to you, but she was there when your other mom couldn't be. If she hadn't been there, you would have gone in the foster system, and never been in Storybrooke, which would have left Emma no reason to come here to bring back the happy endings. And if that hadn't happened, then you wouldn't be sitting here right this second with your family.

"Think of it this way, Regina ultimately cause you to be born. She enacted the curse, which cause Snow White and Prince Charming to put their daughter in that wardrobe to bring her to this world. That action led her to meet your dad, and her to have you. You wouldn't be here if it weren't for that curse." She wanted to start going into nature verses nurture, but she figured Henry didn't get to that part in science class, so he wouldn't understand what she's be talking about anyways.

"I guess."

Dinner eventually was eaten, and Ellie decided to go back to her room to get some sleep. "There's a party tomorrow night at Granny's. You're welcome to come if you want," offered David.

"Thanks. I'll think about it," she replied as she put on her coat. Before leaving, Mary-Margaret insisted on giving Ellie her cell number, in case she got lost exploring the town. Once she made it outside, she lit a smoke, and went to her car. She stopped in her tracks when she saw the woman she had almost hit while trying to flee Storybrooke. The woman got closer, and Ellie recognised her as Regina.

"How did I not recognize you when I was in the hospital?"

"I don't know."

"What should I call you? Regina, Ms Mills, Madam Mayor, Evil Queen, Your Majesty?"

"Why?"

"Because I know my name's Elizabeth, but I prefer it when people call me Ellie. So I want to know what you want to be called. I respect people's preferences."

The brunette looked at her for a moment. "I went to the Charmings to tell them what I found out about how you got here. I heard what you said about me. Thank you for trying with Henry. You have no idea what it means to have someone on my side, even if it's just a little bit."

"It's the truth. Despite what you did in the past, you still loved Henry like any mother would love her child. And you're sincere about changing for him. It's going to be hard, and people will cause you to stray sometimes, but in the end, you'll make the decisions that are right for you and for Henry."

"I'm surprised you believe in me."

"I wasn't one of those hurt by the curse. I have an objective view on it all. I honestly can't say that if I were in your shoes, I wouldn't have done the same thing. Besides, I understand why you did it. I don't agree with you activating the curse, but I understand."

"Thank you. And please, call me Regina." She said smiling, eyes shinning with unshed tears.

Ellie smiled back. "You got it, Regina. Now, what did you find out about how I got here? Is there a way for me to get home?"

"It was a summoning spell. Someone wanted you here."

"What? Why? Why me?"

"The only way to find out is to find the one who cast the spell. It's powerful magic too, beyond even my abilities. It's like a time traveling spell. People have tried them, but no one's ever achieved it."

'Until Zelena comes to town,' she thought. "Can you think of anyone with that much power?"

"Rumplestilskin, but even then, I'm not sure he can. Whoever it is, it's either going to cause a lot of trouble, or make life easier."

"I hope its to make life easier. At least, since I'm here, I can choose to cause chaos or not. I promise to be good. Scout's honour." Ellie replied, raising her index and middle fingers to be beside her head.

Regina gave a small smile. "I'll let you know if I find out more."

"Thanks, Regina."

* * *

Hope you're enjoying it so far. Give me constructive criticism, but don't be hateful about it. Still working out the kinks to this whole writing thing. See y'all next time!

Thank you TorturedTimeTraveler for adding me to your follow list :)

Vic


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